Spray gun keeper



Dec. H, 3951 F. F. MELVIN ET AI.

SPRAY GUN KEEPER Filed May 23, 1945 2 SHEETS- SHEET l UE r Mmm?! l @Tof/vnf Dec. 11, 1951 F. F. MELVIN ETAL SPRAY GUN KEEPER Filed May 25, 1945 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 e Patented Dec. 11,-v 1951 UNITED STATES 'PATENT loFFicE ,SPRAY GUN KEEPER Francis F. Melvin and Joe 0. Stevens, Elwood, Ind. said `Stevens assignor to said Melvin Application May 23, 194,5, Serial No.l 595,450

2 Claims. I Cl. 134-201) This invention relates to means for storing or holding spray guns such as are used in applying paints and coatings, and has for a primary object the holding of the gun in such a manner that the inner air channels oi the ,spray gun including-the valve seats are kept free of a thinner fluid vwhile the critical fluid tip is maintained' in a `Submerged position in the duid.

The fluid tip of the spray gunis an extremely critical item, and its orifices must be kept free from paint pigment which would tend, to otherwise solidify therein after the gun had been in use and then laid aside for a period of time. Needles also are critical and must bekept free of the pigment so that when the gun is again put 'into operation, all passageways will be free of dried or semiedried pigment and the gun can function properly. It has been the common prac-v tice to drop the assembled spray gun into a bucket of thinner in order to dissolve or prevent solidication of the paint pigment,l but such practice carries the pigment into the inner air channels of the spray gun, tending to deposit some upon the valve seat .causingV leaks of air or spraying fluid with the resultant improper functioning of the gun. It has also been the practice to remove the tips and drop them into a, can of thinner to allow the tip to drop to the bottom of the can, and in such' -practice the paint pigment taken up by the thinner will eventually settle to the bottom and' in or onthe= tip.

To overcome these difficulties and provide a device insuring the 'proper cleaning ofthe critical parts of the spray gun which normally are contacted by the sprayed duid, we have devised a spray gun tank which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the tank with the cover broken away;

Fig. 2, a View in side elevation with the major portion of the sidewall broken away;

Fig. 3, a, view in transverse,` vertical section on the line 3 3 in Fig. l;

Fig. el, a View in transverse vertical Section on the line 4 -4 in Fig. 1; and

Fis.. 5, a view in top perspective f a wireI rack carried within the tank.

.nik-eI characters oi reference indicate- Iikeparts throughout the several views in the drawings.

In the present form of the invention the tank I0 is formed to have a rectangular shape and is preferably provided with a hinged top cover II so as to not only retard the evaporation of the thinner or cleaning duid carried in the tank but also to prevent foreign matter from dropping f therein. Within this tank I0 is carriedga wire rack generally designated by the numeral I2. This rack I2 is made to have a pair of.,upper, spaced apart wires I3 and I4 secured by their ends to the cross bars I 5 and I6. From the outer lil ends oi' the cross bar I5, down-turned legs I'I and I8 extend to terminate preferably by inturned ends I9 and 20 respectively to form feet to rest on the floor 2| of the tank I0. In the same manner the cross bar I6 carrie-fy at its ends the downturned legs 22 and 23 Iwhich in turn have the inturned ends 24 and 25 serving as feet to rest on the floor 2|. rEhe wires I6, 22, and 23 form in effect an inverted U frame, and the wires I5, I'I, and I8 form a second U frame.

The longitudinally disposed wires I3 and Il have downwardly looped bends 26 and 2'I respectively therein. The legs Il and I8 are tied together by a cross bar 28 spaced intermediate the bar I5 and the lower ends I3 and 20. The legs 22 and 23 are tied together by' a plurality of bars `29 herein shown as four in number, the lowermost of these bars being substantially at a mid-point oi the legs 22 and 23.

A bar 3Q has one end secured to the leg I1, herein shown as below the bar 28, and extends horizontally inside of and in contact with. the 'leg 22 to be secured thereto, and then extends on in the. same line to bend into `a transverse bar 3I which in tum bends around into the bar 32. This bar 32 extends inside of the leg 23 to be secured thereto and continues on to the leg I8 to be attached thereto by its end. A plurality of bars 33 are carried by the end portions of the bars 30 and 32 which project beyond the legs 22 and 23, these bars 33y being herein shown as four in number.

`A wire 34 is attached to the cross bar I5 between thel leg I8 and the bar I4 and extends horizontally a distance therefrom, and then is bent vertically downwardly t0 merge into Leshape term .in-te a maior length 35 which extends horiacntally above the .ends Is and 20 and terminates by an end portion 355 which is bent around to be secured bv its end `to the leg I'I below the bar 30.

Preferably the wire vI3 is carried .at va slightly higher elevation than is the wire I4 and to accomplish this, the wire I 4 is secured to the undersides of the bars I5 and I5, and the bar I3 is secured across the topsides thereof.

`The frame I2 thus described is placed within Vthe tank I 0, the frame being so proportioned that the-respective legs I'I, I8, 22, and 23 will' be 'in substantial contactwith the inner faces of the two side walls of the tank so as to prevent side shifting of the frame therein. Then with the frame positioned in the tank I0 to have the cross bar 3| in contact with an end of the tank, there is sufficient room left between the bar I5 and the open end of the tank to permit insertion therebetween of a can 31 to rest on the wire portion 35 with the bottom ofthe can in abutment with the vertical portionof the wire 34.

The can 31 is provided with a plunger 38 normally urged outwardly by the spring 39 to close an opening in the can in the usual manner of a. spring seated valve, the details of which do not enter intoour invention. However, an end of the plunger 38 compressibly abuts the inner face of the side wall of the tank to hold the plunger 38 in a retracted position in opposition'to the spring 39, the wire 34 preventing inwardly shifting oi1 the can 31 bodily.

The can 31 is so designedl in respect to the position of the plunger 38 that when the tank I0 has the cleaner or thinner iiuid 40 placed therein to a level substantially as indicated in Fig. 2, which s above the bars 33, the iluid within the can 31 (the can serving as a reservoir) will feed out from the can 31 to maintain that approximate level of the fluid throughout the tank. Some loss of the fluid will be had by evaporation, and other loss will be had by reason of some of the fluid adhering to the spray guns and tips when they are removed from the uid. Therefore, the automatic level maintaining means is provided, not only to maintain an adequate supply of the cleaning fluid 49 within the tank i9, but also to prevent the level from reaching a predetermined l height.

-*to be just above the paint or coating inlet 42 of 'the gun so that the uid may enter therein and also have .the tip 43 submerged, while at the same time all oi the valve parts are well above the cleaning fluid and not subject to entrance of that iluid therein. The bars 33 in conjunction with the vertically aligned bars 29 form a basket between the end and side walls of the tank I9 to receive thereon the surplus or eXtra spray tips 43 and hold them well above the floor 2l of the tank out of the path of any pigment tending to gravitate theretoward.

Thus, it is to be seen that we have provided a very simple and yet a most eiiective device for holding spray guns and tips when not in use in such a manner as to keep them clean and not exposed to now of uid into certain parts of the gun where damage would be caused thereby.

While we have described our invention in the one particular form in more or less minute detail, it is obvious that structural variations may Vbe employed without departing from the spirit of the invention, and we, therefore, do not desire to be limited to that precise form beyond the limi tations as may be imposed by the following claims.

We claim:

1. For supporting spray gun nozzle ends in a bath of fluid contained in a tank, a wire rack comprising a pair oi inverted substantially U- shaped frames; a horizontally disposed wire interconnecting respectively the legs on each side of said frames in parallel relation; said wires being spaced below the tops of said frames and extending horizontally beyond'one of said frames; transverse wires secured across said extending wire ends outside of one said frame; a pair of horizontally disposed support wires, spaced apart in parallel relation interconnecting the tops of said frames, said last wires having bends therealongto serve as longitudinal spacers; said horizontally diposed transverse wires being between a wall of said fluid tank and said one frame to form a skeleton basket floor; additional wires secured across the legs of said end frame vertically spaced above said rst transverse wires; and an L-shaped wire secured to and positioned in spaced relation outside of said other end frame, to have one leg vertically disposed and interconnected with the top of said other frame, and a horizontally disposed leg interconnected therebelow to a leg of said other frame; and a fluid reservoir tank having a horizontal width to fit snugly between said other frame and its adjacent fluid tank wall to rest on said horizontal leg of said L-shaped wire, to maintain said basket floor in contact with the opposite Wall of said iiuid tank.

2. For supporting a spray gun nozzle end in a bath of fluid contained in a tank, a wire rack formed to t within the tank and comprising a pair of longitudinally extending, transversely spaced apart gun carrying wires; a pair of wire members engaging end portions'of said carrying wires and extending therefrom by portions to be carried by said tank; a basket carried by one of said wire members, spaced below said carrying wires and extending longitudinally outwardly beyond said one wire member; a fluid reservoir tank; and a reservoir tank carrying member extending longitudinally outwardly beyond said other wire member, and spaced below said gun carrying wires; said rack being proportioned to receive said reservoir tank as a, spacer member between said other wire member and one of the walls of said fluid tank to have said basket in contact with the opposite end wall of the iiuid tank, whereby the reservoir tank is supported by said reservoir tank carrying member and is substantially in contact with said one tank wall and said other wire member.

FRANCIS F. MELVIN. JOE O. STEVENS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,938,254 Hinson Dec. 5, 1933 1,947,932 Fante Feb. 20, 1934 1,959,454 Biescar May 22, 1934 2,245,892 Anschicks et al. June 17, 1941 

